Press Release 22/12/2021

SURVEY ON TOURIST ESTABLISHMENTS. Except hotels. November 2021

Occupancy at rural accommodation in the Basque Country increased elevenfold in November 2021 and figures at tourist apartments exceeded those for 2019

The majority of visitors continued to be from the rest of Spain, in line with previous months

In November 2021, rural accommodation in the Basque Country registered a total of 7,666 visitors and 17,712 overnight stays, according to Eustat data.

The revival of rural accommodation activity in respect of the same month of the previous year is shown by the fact that visitor numbers rose by more than 1,000% and overnight stays were up almost 500%. With regard to November 2019, at the Basque Country level, the number of visitors recorded this month accounted for 81.1% of those recorded then and overnight stays represented 85.0% of those registered in November 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spain was the origin of 90.4% of visitors and 91.2% of overnight stays at rural accommodation in the Basque Country. Although foreign visitors continued to increase in year-on-year terms, they only represented 9.6% of total visitor numbers and 8.8% of total overnight stays.

By province, the year-on-year increases were particularly high in Álava, reaching 1,542 visitors and 3,136 overnight stays, which, in relative terms, were rises of 1,851.9% and 712.4%, respectively. In Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia, the year-on-year increase in visitor numbers stood at 991.8% and 932.4% in November 2021, registering 2,106 and 4,018 visitors, respectively, in each province. As regards overnight stays, in Gipuzkoa there were 9,768, 410.9% more, and in Bizkaia 4,808, 568.7% more.

The average length of stay in the Basque Country at this type of establishment was 2.31 days, a value lower than the average length of stay of 4.63 days observed in November 2020, but above the 2.21 days registered in November 2019.

Both bed and room occupancy rates experienced year-on-year increases of 10.9 and 11.1 percentage points, respectively, the bed occupancy rate standing at 13.7% and that of rooms at 16.4%.

As regards tourist apartments, during November 2021 visitor numbers and overnight stays totalled 6,495 and 32,720, respectively. In relation to November of the previous year, the number of visitors rose by 305.8% and overnight stays were up 140.3%. Comparing these values with those obtained in November 2019 revealed increases of 9.0% in visitor numbers and 52.9% in overnight stays.

Visitors from within Spain represented 76.8% of the total in the Basque Country as a whole and overnight stays for people from the rest of Spain accounted for 69.6% of the total. Both variables showed significant year-on-year growth: 253.4% in the case of visitor numbers and 116.5% in the case of overnight stays. Visitor numbers and overnight stays for people from abroad, despite having recovered strongly, represented 23.2% and 30.4% of total visitor numbers and overnight stays at tourist apartments in the Basque Country.

In November 2021 the average length of stay was 5.04 days, which was below the 8.51 days obtained in November 2020, but above the 3.59 days registered in November 2019.

At provincial level, the average length of stay stood at 9.93 days in Álava and at 9.66 days in Gipuzkoa, whereas in Bizkaia it was 2.37 days.

The apartment occupancy rate at the Basque Country level reached 58.7%, representing an increase of 25.8 percentage points in relation to November 2020.

Informative note

The response rate of the Survey on Tourist Establishments in November 2021 was 94.9% for Rural Accommodation and 84.4% for Tourist Apartments. Eustat would like to thank all establishments that participated in this survey for their effort.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: Tel.: 945 01 75 62